Thill-coupling.



No. 680,844. Patented Aug. 20, |90I. J. Il.. CURLEY.

THILL COUPLIN'G.

(Application filed Jun. 'Il 1901.)

Mines-sas. faz veul irnn @rari-rs JOHN L. CURLEY, OF HAMILTON, OHIO.

THILLl-COUPLlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 680,844, dated August20, 1901. Application filed January '7, 1901. Serial No. 42,283. (Nomodel.)

To a/,ZZ whom 2S may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN L. OURLEY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Hamilton, in the county of Butler and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inThin-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is a thill-coupling in which the swingingmember of the divided eye of the thill-iron locks itself automaticallywhen the eye is brought into contact with the bolt or pin of the clipand in which the wear both upon the bolt and in the eyes of the clip istaken up automatically to prevent rattling. This object is attained bythe means described in the annexed speciication and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of athill-coupling embodying my invention in the closed position, thethill-iron, with its divided eye, being shown in side elevation attachedto the end of a shaft and the clip-bar being shown with one of its earsbroken off and its pin in crosssection. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the thill-iron in its open positionremoved from the clip. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the swingingmember or lever of the eye of the thill-iron. Fig. 5 is a detail sideelevation of Jthe same. Fig. 6 is a front view of the rigid member ofthe thill-iron, the spring being in section.

Referring to the parts, clip A is of the usual construction and isattached to vehicle-axle B in the customary manner.

Thill-iron C has a divided eye c. Rigid member c of the eye has at itsforward end two downwardly-projecting lugs c2 c3, which between themsupport a pin c4, upon which a lug cl at the front end of swingingmember or lever D is journaled. Lever D has upon its under side a smalldownwardlyeproject ing hook CZ. Upon the top of rigid member c issecured a fiat spring E,- which is of a width slightly less than thewidth between ears a of the clip, and the contour of which follows thetop of the thill-iron to a point e in front of the thill-iron, at whichit is bent back upon itself and again curved over in a forward curve e2and carried down to the under side of the thill-iron, terminating in anupturned hook c', which engages hook d upon lever D. The forward end oflever D where it engages pin o/ of the clip has an upwardly-projectingwedge d2, and the journal-4 hole ds in lug d is elongated, as shown indotted line, Fig. l, so that when pin a becomes worn in use spring E,pressing upon lever D, keeps wedge cl2 in contact with said pin andprevents any rattling on account of this wear. The rear end d4 of leverD in the closed position fits snugly against the under side of thethill-iron.

In use when it is desired to attach the shafts to a vehicle, lever Dbeing thrown down, as shown in Fig. 3, its end is inserted into the clipand the shaft pushed down When the eye of the thill reaches pin a of theclip, the forward curve c2 of spring F., contacting with the clip,causes the hooked portion e of the spring to press lever D backward andcarries it to its closed position, as shown in full lines, Fig. l. It isthus seen that the locking requires no separate operation. The shaft isthen raised to the position shown in d0tted lines, Fig. l, which itoccupies when attached to an animal. This operation causes the forwardcurve e2 to press firmly against the clip and push the thill-ironforward against .pin a of the clip, so that should the eyes in the earsof the clip become worn they are held against rattling by this pressure.The lowering of the shaft when the animal is unhitched again releasesthis pressure, so that leverD may be readily thrown down, as shown inFig. 8, should it be desired to remove the shafts.

What I claim is- 1. In a thill-coupling the combination of a thill-ironwith a divided eye having a rigid and a swinging member, the swingingmember hinged at the forward end of the rigid member and having adownwardly-projecting hook, a spring secured upon top of the rigidmember curved forward carried down beneath the rigid member andterminating in a hook which engages the hook upon. the swinging memberso that in inserting the thill in a clip the forward curve of the springcontacts the clip and carries the swinging member back to its closedposition, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a thill-coupling, the combination of a thill-iron with a dividedeye consisting of a IOO rigid and a swinging member, the swinging memberhinged to the forward end of the rigid member and having adownward-projecting hook, a spring secured upon top of the rigid memberfollowing the contour of said member to a point in front of it therebent back upon itself curved forward and downward to a point beneathsaid member and terminating in a hook which engages the hook upon theswinging member so that in inserting the thill in a clip the forwardcurve contacts the clip and throws the swinging member to its closedposition and that when the shaft is raised the spring takes up wear inthe eyes of the clip to prevent rattling, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. In a thill-eouplingthe combination of a thill-iron with a divided eyehaving a rigid `and a swinging member, the rigid member supporting ajournal-pin, the swinging member having at its forward end an elongatedhole for engaging said pin and an upwardlyprojecting wedge and upon theunder side a downwardly-projecting hook, a spring secured upon top ofthe rigid member curved forward carried down beneath the rigid memberand terminating in a hook which engages the hook upon the swingingmember so that the spring keeps the wedge in Contact with the pin of theclip even when it becomes worn, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN L. CURLEY.

4Witnesses:

W. F. MURRAY, EMMA LYFORD.

